Surgical and Interventional Robotics

T wo decades after the first reported robotic surgical procedure [1], surgical robots are just beginning to be widely used in the operating room or interventional suite. The da Vinci telerobotic system (Intuitive Surgical, Inc.), for example, has recently become more widely employed for minimally invasive surgery [2]. This article, the first in a three-part series, examines the core concepts underlying surgical and interventional robots, including the potential benefits and technical approaches, followed by a summary of the technical challenges in sensing, manipulation, user interfaces, and system design. The article concludes with a reviewof key design aspects, particularly in the areas of risk analysis and safety design. Note that medical care can be delivered in a surgical suite (operating room) or an interventional suite, but for convenience, wewill henceforth use the term surgical to refer to both the surgical and interventional domains.